


A Talk Between Quartzes

by StrawhatsAndDelibirds



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: a redemption of sorts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 12:11:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11486130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawhatsAndDelibirds/pseuds/StrawhatsAndDelibirds
Summary: Sometimes you just get tired of not knowing what'd going on and never getting answers from allies.Sometimes you just gotta risk valuable locations that can never be replaced and risk wasting the effort put in for months trying to track someone down.But if there's anything to be learned its that quartzes aren't afraid of risks.





	A Talk Between Quartzes

So she was about to make a bad decision. What else is new.

 

Though to be fair, this was probably up there when it came to bad choices. Way worse than the time she said she’d watch Steven and left him at the park, and way worse than that time she thought it’d be funny to sneak a skunk into Pearl’s room and it stunk up the temple for weeks.

 

But she was hoping this would be the kind of bad idea that was like trusting Peridot, in that at first it was a bad idea, but ended up pretty good.

 

Besides, if Pearl could take bubbles as she wanted, then so could she. She had more important things to do than just cry over one of Rose’s bubbles. And this was one of her own bubbles, and she could do whatever she wanted with her bubbles. They were her’s, weren’t they.

 

Still this wasn’t something that she wanted anyone to know about. She wanted to keep this quiet, because she was the only one that could do this. While Steven was a quartz made on Earth, the fact that he had Rose’s gem would just make things more complicated than they needed to be. Pearl would turn this into a lecture and they wouldn’t get anywhere because she’d talk over all of them, and Garnet just wouldn’t let this happen.

 

She was tired of not having answers, and she was tired of no one giving them to her. It was their own faults for not giving her the truth. Her source might not’ve been a great one on the topic of Rose, because it felt like the more she went on adventures with Steven, the more she seemed to learn more about Rose, and things that seemed to fly in the face of everything she knew about her.

 

But there was someone that she knew nothing about, that no one ever told her about before. Someone that she was supposed to know, but didn’t because she was long gone by the time she left the Kindergarten. Pink Diamond.

 

It wasn’t that she was unhappy with all this, but she didn’t want to keep being in the dark. She hated feeling left out in all of this, because Pearl and Garnet knew who she was. They were around to know who she was, Peridot and Steven were in the same boat as her, and she had no idea where Lapis was in all this. 

 

Lapis might’ve been an option if things weren’t still kinda tense between them. It felt weird given the fact that while they did save her, they also kept her in a mirror for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and then fought her when she got out. In their defense, she did try to steal the ocean, but things were still weird between them. Probably would also hit a sore spot because that’s what she spent the last few thousand years doing in the mirror.

 

So this was her only bet. Probably wouldn’t be too much better, but this was going to be a quartz to quartz chat, and hopefully they’d be able to find some sort of common ground on this, and this wouldn’t be a huge mistake and they’d have to go through all of this again. And they wouldn’t have to track her down and poof her again.

 

And this was only if she could get this to work. Last she saw, Jasper was corrupted, but the centipeedle could at least come back a little, and she wasn’t corrupted for that long, so maybe it could be undone more? At this point it was mostly just hoping. 

 

If this went wrong, she was going to be in so much trouble for unbubbling a corrupted gem in Rose’s Fountain. But she had taken down a corrupted gem like her before, she could probably do it again.

 

With a deep breath in to calm herself down, she stuck her head down through the water in her room into the Burning Room. Garnet was nowhere to be seen, so that was good. Neither was Pearl. She just had to look for purple bubbles.

 

The next part needed the precision that she had been practicing forever to do. She just needed to concentrate, but not overthink it. She drew her whip, then snapped it at the bubble she wanted so it’d wrap around it.

 

It was hard not to cheer as it wrapped around the right one, leaving the rest of them untouched, but someone would definitely find out if she did. But she impressed herself with how not only did she get the right one, but she only got the one she wanted, and no bubbles were accidentally popped in the process.

 

Her whipped disappeared as she took the bubble in her hands. It was weird how just a few months ago, she had worked so hard to put her in this bubble. It almost felt surreal, and yet there was a feeling of pity in her gut.

 

No one deserved to be corrupted. Even if she was her enemy and a gem that came out right, Jasper looked so small in those moments before she was lost to corruption. It was kinda weird because she kinda knew where she was coming from. Pink Diamond must’ve meant a lot to her, probably as much as Rose did for her. Jasper didn’t even get the short nine months that she had to come to terms with Rose leaving them, Pink Diamond just wasn’t there one day. 

 

It was kinda funny how much they had in common, in the sad kind of way. If she came out right, would she be just like her? Just as devastated by the loss of Pink Diamond? 

 

But she was wasting too much time. She couldn’t afford to have anyone come in to check on her. Steven and Pearl were both tattlers, and Garnet wouldn’t allow this. If Steven could unbubble gems and give them chances even if they attacked him, then why couldn’t she do it just this once.

 

She made a break for the warp pad, and dashed off to where they needed to go. She didn’t check to see if anyone noticed, but at this point it was too late. She had already gone, and the deed was done.

 

The fountain still looked to be in good condition. There were still some brambles, but they weren’t in the way and the fountain still flowed freely. 

 

“We’re here, Sis. Let’s see if we can get you fixed.” She said, feeling she could speak freely now that they had made it out of the temple.

 

“You’re probably not gonna like where we are, but we need to talk.” She walked off the warp pad and made her way to the actual fountain.

 

She really hoped that this was going to work. The bubble was placed in the water, and then she popped it. Jasper’s gem fell into the water with a faint plop. She took a few steps back to let it form, as if it were some sort of toy you put in water to watch it grow that grew at the speed you wanted it to, not the weenie speed it did that took days if not weeks.

 

It was good that she did, because as Jasper reformed, her gem tried to make her body look like the corrupted quartz that she was training before she was corrupted and poofed. Though Rose’s tears seemed to do the trick, as her reforming body pulled back into a more human form. The orangy-white light that was forming her body gave way to the actual thing. She still looked a little moldy and spikey, maybe a little bigger than before, but overall back to being Jasper.

 

Her reformed body splashed back down into the fountain, and stayed on her hands and knees in the fountain quietly. She was pretty sure this was a good sign. So far nothing had gone wrong, Jasper wasn’t a big corrupt gem monster breaking the fountain. That was one good thing.

 

“What do you want. Come to laugh at me? The jasper who kept fighting after the war was over and her diamond shattered?” She gave a dry laugh. “Or did you want me to join your little team of rejects on this planet running out of time?”

 

Jasper looked up from staring at her reflection to stare back at her. Her expression immediately soured.

 

“What. Is Rose too good to do her own recruiting? Is she too busy off making flower crowns and talking about feelings with other off colours to come deal with me? She had to send the runt to do it for her?”

 

She couldn’t let her get to her. Jasper just wanted to get a reaction out of her. She wanted to distract her so she could get away and recover. It’d be really bad to let her just get away and work on building an army again.

 

“Go on. Ask me. Offer me a chance to join your gang of should be shatters. Tell me all about how we’ll just waste time being friends until the Cluster bursts out, shatters us, then absorbs us. It’ll be a great way to pass the time.” Jasper laughed bitterly, the sarcasm dripping in her voice.

 

“I wanted to ask you something else. I wanted to know more about Pink Diamond.” Jasper’s laughing seemed to stop. She seemed to have her attention now.

 

“Why would you want me to tell you? You should know, she was your diamond too. You’re a quartz from Earth for Diamonds’ sake!”

 

“Yeah but I came out late. I came out way after she was already shattered. I missed the whole war. No one can tell me what she was like, because Rose is gone, and Pearl and Garnet won’t tell me anything.” She could sit there and mess around, but it would just make it harder for her to get answers.

 

“Rose can’t be gone.  **I** was supposed to be the one to take her down. When did this happen? Who did they?” Instead of answers, she got frantic demands. She was going to have to sort this out before anything else could get done.

 

“She’s been gone for like fourteen years now. None of us were happy about it, but she did this to herself. She gave up her physical form so she could have a-”

 

“NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT ROSE IS GONE. THAT WAS JUST AN EXCUSE TO AVOID THE CONSEQUENCES FOR HER ACTIONS. I’M NOT GOING TO FALL FOR THAT!” 

 

“I DON’T CARE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BELIEVE IT! IT’S THE TRUTH! YOU THINK I’M HAPPY THAT ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO EVER TALK TO ME, LET ALONE ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO CARE ABOUT ME IS GONE FOREVER? THERE’S NOTHING THAT CAN BE DONE. ROSE QUARTZ IS AS GOOD AS SHATTERED, BECAUSE SHE GAVE UP HER GEM SO STEVEN COULD LIVE. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO SHAPESHIFT FOR THAT LONG? THERE’S NO WAY THAT STEVEN IS ACTUALLY ROSE!”

 

“WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU!”

 

“BECAUSE WE’RE THE SAME. ROSE WAS MY LEADER, AND SHE’S GONE NOW. WE’RE IN THE SAME BOAT, SIS! NEITHER OF US IS HAPPY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, AND WE BOTH LOST OUR LEADERS TO ROSE QUARTZ. TIME’S PASSED BUT IT STILL HURTS! WE BOTH MISS THEM, AND THEY AREN’T COMING BACK.”

 

Then there was silence as she huffed and puffed to get the rage out.

 

“Look. I know the pain of losing someone important. You can doubt me all you want, but it’s not going to bring Rose back. Or Pink Diamond.”

 

“Then why do you care? She’s gone, and not your diamond.”

 

“I dunno. She feels like she’s part of my past I never got to know. Steven’s been dealing with Rose’s past so she’s someone that’s been brought up. I know that I’m not going to know anything about her until Steven does, and I’m tired of not having anything to say when the topic comes up because that’s a part of the Crystal Gems I never got to be a part of.”

 

“So you’re so desperate you’re turning to the enemy for advice?”

 

“I mean, we’ve had our differences, but I don’t really know if we’re enemies anymore.”

 

“If I had the chance, I’d shatter Rose Quartz and bring her shards to the Diamonds.” 

 

“Then what? I don’t think being the gem the shattered Rose Quartz would do anything for you now.”

 

Jasper looked down at her reflection quietly, before slashing her claws through the reflection. Maybe she shouldn’t’ve said that. But she looked away from her reflection and sat back in the water.

 

“Fine. What did you want to know?”

 

“I dunno. Never thought I’d actually get this far.” She shrugged, sitting down on the edge of the fountain with her feet dangling in the water. “Just start wherever, I guess.”

 

“She was a great leader. Earth was her first planet, but she had great plans for it. Imagine a Homeworld away from Homeworld. Its resources would have been used to make more and less defective gems. Homeworld is soon going to be depleted of its final resources, and its clean given the number of off colours being produced.”

 

“But her project was never finished thanks to Rose Quartz.” Jasper glared at the statue, as if the statue could answer for Rose. 

 

“Did you ever meet her? Like did you know her personally.”

 

“Like a quartz like me could ever know a diamond personally. I may be trapped on Earth as a half corrupted monster, but I still know my place. I did meet her on occasion. I had the pleasure of being instructed on where to go personally by Her Clarity. Her orders were concise and perfect had we have been given the proper intel. The failing of others shouldn’t have been put on her like that.” 

 

Jasper glared back at the water she sat in.

 

“I’d like to see anyone do better in her position. When you have betrayals left and right while you’re arguing with a fellow diamond.”

 

“Wait, arguing with a fellow diamond? I never heard of anything like that going on.”

 

“It was mostly just a rumor among quartz, but it would make sense why Yellow Diamond never stepped in to help. A loss for one Diamond is a loss for all of them. It would have been better to have taken action before the corruption. We were short on troops, but it would’ve been better to have just taken this stupid rock instead of ruining it for future use. It only furthered the victory for you Crystal Gems.” She sneered. “If my only other option wasn’t being a crystal gem, then there’s no way I would’ve joined Yellow Diamond’s court.”

 

“So wait, Yellow and Pink were fighting? While a war was going on? That just seems really stupid.”

 

“Yeah, that’s why if joining the Crystal Gems wasn’t my only other option, I wouldn’t have joined Yellow Diamond. At least because of my major contributions to the war I didn’t get stuck in that zoo. I’m a jasper, not a rose quartz for diamonds’ sake! I wasn’t made for dealing with feelings, let alone the feelings of one of the most fragile beings in the galaxy.”

 

“Can’t say I really blame you on that one. I’ve only been there once and it just felt… uncomfortable. Even with the other gems there that weren’t Holly Blue, I couldn’t imagine staying there for that long.” If it weren’t for the fact that someone needed to take care of those humans, and that those humans wouldn’t survive a day on Earth, she would have loved to take them with her.

 

“It was the one thing I didn’t approve of that Pink Diamond did. But she’s a diamond, so I’m sure that it was for a reason I just didn’t understand. Yellow Diamond was the only Diamond I could have been with and not been stuck doing some lame job. I can’t tell you how much I wish I could just go back to my diamond. Pink Diamond was the only one who I could trust, and the only one who truly knew how to work an army.”

 

“And now I’m stuck on this planet. Her planet. Like this. Until I’m shattered and absorbs our shards for strength.” She slammed her fist down, splashing both of them. At least Rose’s tears weren’t the worst thing to get on you. Probably actually helped Jasper if anything.

 

“I don’t know if this helps or not, but we actually already stopped it. I wasn’t there but I heard that Steven helped it bubble itself.”

 

“I refuse to believe something as ludicrous as that, especially since your source is that Not Rose Quartz.”

 

“Well Peri said so too, so either they’re working to destroy Earth all of a sudden, or it was something just crazy enough to work.”

 

Jasper was quiet for a bit, Amethyst was a little worried about that. Then she started to laugh, which really worried Amethyst.

 

“Even when she’s not Rose Quartz anymore, she’s still defying the diamonds and all rationality. I don’t know whether I should laugh because this all going to be Yellow Diamond’s fault because her project failed, or if I’ve just completely lost my mind.”

 

“Wow, you must really hate YD.”

 

“As I said, if my only other option wasn’t staying on Earth and being a Crystal Gem, There’s no way that I would’ve stayed in her court.”

 

“Well, I mean you don’t have to join the Crystal Gems. I mean as far as they know, you’re still floating in the temple with the rest of the corrupted gems. As long as you’re not causing trouble, you could just go and explore the world.”

 

“Why would I want to do that?”

 

“I dunno, there’s probably a lot of stuff you missed while you were out building an army. Maybe one day you can come visit in secret and I can teach you how to wrestle. Steven isn’t always available to be my partner and it could also be pretty fun to wrestle you for the belt.”

 

“Why are you offering me a chance like this. I didn’t ask for one and I could just go after you again like I did last time! You Crystal Gems are compassionate to the point of stupidity!”   
  
“I mean, at worst, we’ll just have to come kick your butt again, and then you’ll just stay in the bubble. Besides, we’re both gems from Earth and we’re a lot alike. I just got a bit overcooked is all. And if you want, I could just put you back in the bubble.”   
  
“I didn’t ask for your pity! I’m the enemy! How are you so quick to forget?!”

 

“Look. I’m giving you your freedom. You don’t have to see me ever again if you don’t want to. You could even get Peridot to build you a spaceship so you could leave and just explore the galaxy. But on Earth you don’t have to worry about getting shattered. Cracked maybe, if you do something stupid, but if that happens you can just stop by here again.”

 

Jasper was silent again, choosing not to look at her, but at the water.

 

“Fine, but should I ever decide that I do want to partake in this wrestling, that you’re not going to stand a chance.” She couldn’t really tell, but she might’ve seen a hint of a smirk on Jasper’s face. Amethyst couldn’t help but smirk back.

 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. I should get going though. They might start wondering where I went off to.” She twisted her legs off of the edge so they were dangling off the ground, before hopping off and stretching. 

 

“Until next time, sis.”

 

Amethyst couldn’t help but grin.

 

“Yeah, until next next time, sis.”


End file.
